DESCRIPTION:
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I was down in the break room
When it came over the wire
(at 3:30am)
I heard John screaming,
"Quick - the world's on fire"
(we were alone)
I ran into the newsroom
Over to the A.P. machine
(in a nowhere bureau)
Then I saw it there,
Printed out on the screen
(far from home)

I turned and tried to calm my panicked friend
I said "There's nothing to worry about now
It's only the end
No fear of living
No hate (or love)
No dreams to speak of
Or break"

John shook and wailed and said,
"I wish this were a dream"
And then as if in answer
His eyes blanked and he began to rave:

"I can hear the rattle of the gates
Ten horns, seven heads, the hand of fate
I can see thrones descended over one and all
Twelve dozen thousand saved - the rest will fall
I can hear them marching now
Line by line squealing now
No new Rome to burn
Last fire, last rites - no soul unturned
The fires burn black in the deepest of night
Holding in our hearts, burning lava white
Now there's nothing left but the light and dark
Fall in a direction or be ripped apart
Now has come the time, and time is running out
Now has come the time, and time is running out
Now has come the time, and time is running out
Running out"

I stood there and watched the words drip from his lips
I shook myself, then I shook him. I said,
"There's no such thing as prophecy
No real truth - just the news
When it's over it's over
No lines of dead, just deadlines
Faith is something we only buy at the end
Only when it's cheap, when it's safe to pretend
Hope there's something left of your soul to pray for,
Hope to God that your sins are paid for
Out here on the edge of the world
We shout and scream just to be heard
To leave some sort of sign where you once were
Reach down and scrawl your name in the earth
There's no buck left to pass, nowhere left to run
Time has run out and the consequence has come
Nothing's kept, nothing's left in the aftermath
No one cries, no one laughs on the back of death"

"Oh God" John said. "What do you we do?"
I said, "We do what we're paid for - we report the news
Print our copy for the unheeding horde
And go up on the roof
And then we sit back, relax and wait for the rapture to claim us.
Sit back, relax and wait for the rapture to claim us."